New and cluless.

[STPOW22]

Hello. How are you? I am very new to Kava. Never tried it and only heard of it today. I have been recently diagnosed with general anxiety disorder. I have research a little about Kava and wondered it it was an option for me. I am looking for relief (or, reduction) from anxiety and help sleep.

What do you recommend? Brand? Preparation? Dose? Frequency? Safety?

I would appreciate any and all advice. I don't expect a miracle or overnight success. I just was wondering if Kava could help with my symptoms and how I should go about trying.

Thank you.

Steve

 

[STPOW22]

Excuse my spelling in the title.

 

[kavadude]

Yes, many members have found kava helps with their anxiety issues.

It's important to get good quality kava and prepare it correctly. Dry root powder is much less expensive than instant and extract products. Any of the vendors active on the forums here will sell you quality kava (Bula Kava House, Paradise Kava, Noble Kava, Kava Candy), although there are many other vendors around. You could do a lot worse than to order the sampler and a fijian strainer from Bula Kava House.

Dose, frequency, that's something you will have to figure out yourself I'm afraid. Kava becomes more effective with frequent use though.

Safety? Worst thing most of us have to contend with is (reversible) lizard skin from drinking too much kava. It's been used safely for thousands of years in the Pacific. Don't mix it with alcohol, tylenol or other hepatotoxic substances and remember there is no substitute for good judgment.

 

[Vekta]

I am one of those that uses kava for anxiety. I don't have the same type of anxiety you do so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

The sampler from Bula Kava House would be a very nice start. You'll get a taste of a wide variety of kava of various strengths and chemotypes. What is great for me may be meh for you.

I started off drinking kava every other day @ 3 tbsp per seession. 2 years later I only need 2 tbsp per session every week to week and a half. If you end up like me then using kava to help with your GAD becomes very cost effective. I can get a 1 lb bag of kava to last 3,5-4 months.

 

[STPOW22]

Thank you, both!

 

[Akava]

Yeah thing is though, you might get tired of always straining root, thats why I only use extracts or instants nowadays, I think thats the best way to do it for anxiety because you wont always have time to strain, so this way you never have to miss a dose!

 

[Vekta]

Akava does have a point.

I only have it about once a week...but I still have to make it once a week. It just depends how overloaded your time is. I'm able to find 15-20 minutes to make a decent brew by hand so I still make it by hand.

 

[endwatcher]

I think the making of Kava is also theraputic.
Simply MAKING yourself make time and SLOW DOWN consciously is a act of medatation on its own.
Just remember,
You control your emotions
Your emotions do not control you.

I love making Kava, but seriously; Paradises extracts simply are great because of ease of dosing and wicked strong anxiolytic effect.

 

[Buddhacide]

My 2 cents is to buy an assortment of root from different vendors and compare and contrast, but unlike many I recommend using the traditional method before getting into the extracts etc....I'm of the opinion early kava experiences should be strong so you know what you are working with. Extracts etc... just dont provide the same experience imo. But they are nice once you know what you are looking for. Make sure you use a lot of root, strain it well, and drink it on an empty stomach. It may not work the first few times but when it does you'll be a believer, lol. Welcome btw.

 

[Akava]

@endwatcher
Is sentence beneath your name "When you drink tea, drink tea" talking about mindfulness?

 

[Bert07]

Yeah thing is though, you might get tired of always straining root, thats why I only use extracts or instants nowadays, I think thats the best way to do it for anxiety because you wont always have time to strain, so this way you never have to miss a dose!

If only there were a kava machine on the market by now...It literally takes me over an hour to brew it and then clean up. For this reason I sometimes get turned off by it completely and head straight for the booze instead, only for its mere convenience.

 

[Deactivated Account]

Yes, many members have found kava helps with their anxiety issues.

It's important to get good quality kava and prepare it correctly. Dry root powder is much less expensive than instant and extract products. Any of the vendors active on the forums here will sell you quality kava (Bula Kava House, Paradise Kava, Noble Kava, Kava Candy), although there are many other vendors around. You could do a lot worse than to order the sampler and a fijian strainer from Bula Kava House.

Dose, frequency, that's something you will have to figure out yourself I'm afraid. Kava becomes more effective with frequent use though.

Safety? Worst thing most of us have to contend with is (reversible) lizard skin from drinking too much kava. It's been used safely for thousands of years in the Pacific. Don't mix it with alcohol, tylenol or other hepatotoxic substances and remember there is no substitute for good judgment.

Sound advice …

 

[endwatcher]

Akava,
Mindfulness, as well as being in "that" moment.
Forgetting past, and future; just living now.

When you think of the past, you are depressed
When you think of the future, you are anxious
But when you are here and now, you think complete; without the seperation from time.

I think my new one for the new year is going to be

"Is there death before life?"

Hows that one sound?

 

[Deleted User01]

Welcome STPOW22! As you can see, there is an encylopedia of information here for you and we are all more than happy to give you our 2 cents worth. I have general anxiety that is work related. I only drink Kava 3 times a week and I haven't had any skin issues ... yet. I also drink booze on my non Kava days but Kava has helped me cut down on that. I'm a big believer in making a big batch of Kava on the weekend, bottling it, and storing it in the fridge. You can search for bottling and see my many posts on the subject.

If you are new to Kava, then you need to dose yourself for a few weeks before you feel the effects (typically). I used Gaia Kava in gelatin caps and it did the trick. Perhaps you can get some at the store and start on that while you wait for Santa to deliver your powdered Kava. I believe it may help you with your sleep issues besides helping you overcome "reverse tolerance". Might be a good chance to see if you are allergic to Kava as well. And buying a variety pack is a good plan and will be a lot of fun. You are not going to like the taste of kava but you can always use Coconut Water to mask some of that. There are daytime and night time drinkers. FYI, I am a daytime drinker and so is Deleted User. There are Kavas that energize and Kavas that knock you down, experimenting is the fun part. Anyway, I ramble, so welcome to the Brotherhood and remember that there is no such thing as a dumb question.

 

[The Kap'n]

@STPOW22

Just keep at it! Kava is a very rewarding experience once you're making it correctly.

@Bert07 - I will have myself a kava making machine at some point. I've been brainstorming with my mechanically inclined friend for months. My dream is to put kava & water into the top, turn it on, and have prepared kava come out the bottom. I will eventually make this happen.

 

[Deleted User01]

Ya know Kapm, I remember seeing a cartoon where the washing machine had two arms and would soak and wring the clothes. Maybe that's what you need to design. An automatic Kneader and Squeezer. I thought Jud had developed some kind of commercial Gadget for his bar. Maybe yours would be the tabletop model.

 

[kavadude]

@Kapmcrunk I have been thinking about this at length this morning. What is your current design like? I'm thinking of a press of some sort. You'd have a dishwasher safe tub which you fill with water and kava, then place it in the machine and let it mash on the kava for X minutes. I had initially thought of including straining, but I feel like that'd add a lot of complication to the process, and you still have to clean it, so I'm leaning towards a final hand straining step. I looked at hydraulic juice presses, but they're quite expensive and I don't know whether they'd work for kava as they appear to need finer grind control than we can get. I know Judd uses an industrial one.

 

[Deleted User01]

Ok STPOW22, I just poured a cup of ice cold Melo Melo made with Coconut water and down the hatch it went. I swear it doesn't taste bad at all. If I didn't know that Kava was supposed to taste bad, I might even develop a taste for it. And Cold Kava is way better tasting then warm Kava. And Melo Melo is one of the lighter colored Kavas that doesn't taste too bad to begin with. It almost tastes nutty. Just a few tips for ya. One more thing, you have to buy Coconut Water that is really watery. Do not buy the creamy kind. I use the Sprouts brand. The creamy stuff turns into fudge. It works but its no fun drinking fudgy kava.

 

[Deactivated Account]

I have one of these for fruit/veg juice. The product that bypasses is as dry as cardboard. No pulp what so ever so if you fed it a slurry then maybe it could work. They work on slow crushing & pressure filtering.

Fast fwd the vid to 11 mins if you dont wish to die of boredom.

 

[Akava]

Akava,
Mindfulness, as well as being in "that" moment.
Forgetting past, and future; just living now.

When you think of the past, you are depressed
When you think of the future, you are anxious
But when you are here and now, you think complete; without the seperation from time.

I think my new one for the new year is going to be

"Is there death before life?"

Hows that one sound?

Makes sense, go for it